Question: "What minor character captured your imagination and deserves a spin off?"
Andrew's Answer: The character who absolutely caught my attention was Katanga, the captain of the freighter upon which Jones and Marion try to escape Egypt with the Ark. This guy is a borderline pirate prowling the seas at an interesting time. I'll bet his story would have made a heck of a film... much better than The Shadow or The Phantom.
Scott's Answer: I'd love to see the early years of Henry Jones Sr. (Paging Daniel Craig?) Then again, considering Lucas' track record with prequels and spinoffs... perhaps not. If not Jones Sr., then perhaps Wu Han, Indy's ally at the beginning of Doom. "I've followed you on many adventures... but into the great unknown mystery, I go first, Indy!"
I think you could do an entire anthology based on Marion's bar in Nepal. Those characters, that location, add in the Eastern mysticism and the occult.
ReplyDeleteIt would be as if H. Rider Haggard wrote "Cheers."
I liked Short Round (SCREW YOU HATERS!!!).
ReplyDeleteRegardless, a movie based on Katanga would sound like something out of a pulp magazine from the 20s and 30s -much like Indiana Jones.
Pike -
ReplyDeleteThat'd be cool. It would have almost a Casablanca vibe to it.
Kit -
ReplyDeleteI like him, too.
And agreed re: Katanga. Man, I need to do my research on the pulp universe... I love looking at the cover artwork online and there's no doubt plenty of cool history there.
I'm particularly fond of Sallah, and his exploits as "the best digger in Egypt" would surely be interesting. However, I think following Belloq into the seedy underworld of artifacts dealing would be more adventurous. He generally has the reputation of letting Indy do all the hard work, but offloading antiquities isn't easy, either.
ReplyDeletePikeBishop, That's true, that would make an excellent show as well... very engaging environment, very engaging characters.
ReplyDeleteKit, As much as I hate to admit it, I suspect kids would have loved to see a series based on Short Round.
ReplyDeleteI think Katanga would have made for an awesome character in a film or series. I would absolutely watch that show/movie.
tryanmax, That would be interesting! I'll bet Belloq would have some pretty wild adventures, especially as he lacks Indi's moral core.
ReplyDeleteScott and everyone, I think what this tells us is that one of the reasons these films are so good -- particularly Raiders -- is that everything about it is cool, not just Indi. This is a story crawling with fascinating things that would have been excellent stories all on their own.
ReplyDeleteAndrew -
ReplyDeleteAnd that goes back to what we were talking about re: comedies in the 70s and 80s. The plethora of supporting characters who were just as funny if not funnier than the main characters.
Plus every now and then, you'd get a comedy that was even bigger. Woody Allen's classic movies where the city of New York was a character, or The Blues Brothers where the car was a character, etc.
tryanmax -
ReplyDeleteSadly, if the Indy movies were made today, one of the sequels probably would be a Belloq spinoff. I say "sadly" not because it would be bad, but because the idea of making one would be so predictable.
(I could've phrased that more eloquently but you get the point.) :-)
Scott, True. Every great movie and I can think of is packed with fascinating bit players and sidetracks. And that is exactly what's missing from so many films today.
ReplyDeleteOf course, Major Arnold Toht didn't survive the movie, but I'd like to see his previous adventures. Rough housing with the SA, street fights with communist demonstrators, marching during the Nuremberg Nazi party congress, setting fire to the Reichstag. He seemed like a fun loving guy.
ReplyDeleteThe doomed swordsman in RAIDERS. I envision an epic prequel trilogy, charting his rise from a gifted child of the streets to a heroic swashbuckling figure among the Egyptian people, only to be seduced by the dark side, leading to his hubris and ultimate downfall at the point of Indy's pistol... and George Lucas is *just* the man to write it!
ReplyDeleteDitto the Nazi-sympathizing monkey! Meaning, either a similar threequel-prequel treatment for our sieg-heiling simian friend, or, that the monkey could easily write a back-story trilogy just as well (maybe better)!
Backthrow, Do I detect a hint of cynicism when it comes to the talented Mr. Lucas? :P
ReplyDeleteK, Yep, Nazis make excellent heroes. It practically writes itself. LOL!
ReplyDelete